Naganadel, The Poison Pin Pokémon. It stores hundreds of liters of poisonous liquid inside its body. It is one of the organisms known as UBs. One kind of Ultra Beast, it fires a glowing, venomous liquid from its needles. This liquid is also immensely adhesive.

Overview

Being one of the new Ultra Beasts released in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Naganadel is a powerful wall breaking Pokémon. It has a strong movepool, including access to Nasty Plot, and solid typing in Dragon and Poison. Naganadel also packs strong offensive stats to make use of Beast Boost's incredible offensive capabilities. However, all these have made it so Naganadel is at home in Ubers. Despite being in the realm of the strongest Pokémon in the game, Naganadel still holds onto its ability to break threats and still pull off snowball sweeps, but it needs to be played carefully. Positives
+ Coverage - Dragon/Poison is strong coverage already, Poison STABs decimating Fairy-types which are the best answer to Dragon attacks. However, both of Naganadel's STABS are walled by Steel types. Thankfully Naganadel gets access to Fire Blast, giving it unresisted coverage which is a major boon for any wall breaker, especially since this is achievable with only 3 move slots leaving one open for other moves, namely U-Turn or Nasty Plot.
+ Offensive Stats - Naganadel has strong offensive stats, being about average for Ubers, allowing it to be competitive within the tier for the most part. Naganadel's major selling point, outside of Beast Boost, is its Speed at 121 base. This outpaces a lot of other wall breakers in tier such as Kyurem White and Rayquaza, although the latter has access to Extreme Speed.
+ Typing - Naganadel has a notable boon over a lot of other wallbreakers in Ubers due its Poison typing. This allows Naganadel to absorb both Toxic and Toxic Spikes, creating quite a few options for it to switch into an enemy. This also allows Naganadel to turn the best Toxic Spike setter, Toxapex, into setup fodder, allowing Naganadel to act as a powerful Stall breaker.

Negatives
- Frail - For an Uber Pokémon, Naganadel is very soft, only having 73 base HP, Defense, and Special Defense. This means that Naganadel is easy to be revenge killed by anything that is faster than it, has access to priority, or survives an attack. Because of Naganadel's overall low bulk, it also struggles with entry hazards due to it having less health to take hits after switching in so be wary of this.
- Dependence on Ability - Naganadel is a Pokémon that's very reliant on its ability to maintain pressure. If Naganadel fails to score a kill and raise its Speed up a stage, Choice Scarf users, namely Yveltal, destroy it. However if Naganadel can get the boost, it can muscle through these softer threats and snowball through the enemy team.

Abilities

Beast Boost - Raises the Pokémon's highest stat by 1 stage when it KO'es a Pokémon - Naganadel's only ability, Beast Boost is an incredible ability allowing Naganadel to gain a free +1 to Special Attack or Speed based on the nature you pick, both of which are solid options.

With EVs set to maximize Naganadel's offensive abilities as well as a Timid nature to get a Speed boost from Beast Boost, Naganadel aims to break through walls and go for a snowball sweep or late game clean up. Draco Meteor is the only Dragon STAB and the main wall breaking move in combination with Dragonium Z for a 195 base power Dragon STAB nuke. This has to be planned out however as Pokémon such as Xerneas can switch into it and waste the best tool at your disposal. Some targets to hit with the Dragonium Z boost are Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, Ho-Oh, and Lugia. Sludge Wave is the primary STAB move used, hitting a lot of threats in Ubers hard, Dusk Mane Necrozma, Dialga, and Primal Groudon being some of the threats that resist it. This is where Fire Blast comes in, hitting Steel threats hard that would otherwise stop Naganadel cold. Nasty Plot is the last move, allowing Naganadel to look to wall break and sweep. Be careful with Nasty Plot as well as a lot of the time, going for a powerful attack such as a Draco Meteor may be better to punish Choice Scarf Pokémon that switch in expecting a Nasty Plot. The best time to go for the Nasty Plot is after bulky threats have been reduced to the KOing range of Naganadel and faster Pokémon have been removed.

Other Options and Partners

Choice Scarf - An option to harass some faster threats such as Deoxys that try to pick off Naganadel after it attacks. This does give up a lot of Naganadel's pressure due to lacking Nasty Plot, generally in favor of U-Turn, but is an option.
Life Orb - Similar to Choice Scarf, Life Orb can be used to hit more threats harder but gives up the raw power of boosted Draco Meteor.
Substitute - Last other option, Substitute can go over Nasty Plot, forgoing the raw power Naganadel can get from Nasty Plot. This allows Naganadel to beat some faster Pokémon as well as priority users such as Arceus.

Mega Salamence - Mega Salamence works well with Naganadel as it can threaten some of Naganadel's checks, namely Ho-Oh as Salamence doesn't care about the burn of Sacred Fire due to Facade. Meanwhile Naganadel is capable of beating threats to Mega Salamence such as Arceus Water and Arceus Fairy.
Entry Hazard Leads - Being a wall breaker, Naganadel loves entry hazards as it breaks abilities like Multiscale as well as Focus Sashes. Excadrill and Deoxys Defense are the two front runners, Excadrill setting up Stealth Rocks and can spin away other entry hazards while Deoxys Defense sets up both Stealth Rocks and Spikes, being fast enough to Taunt out some other hazard leads and can use Magic Coat to bounce back hazards of faster threats like Deoxys Speed.
Primal Groudon - With its ability to setup Stealth Rocks and check some major threats like Ho-Oh and Primal Kyogre, Primal Groudon is a strong option for a partner. Naganadel however doesn't do a lot to help Primal Groudon.

VGC, Double, & Triple Battle Options

Each of the new Ultra Beasts have added a new dynamic to VGC and double battles. Like Stakataka, who we covered a few weeks ago, Naganadel can support the team with reliable speed control setup (in this case, Tailwind, as opposed to Stakataka’s Trick Room) but also be a strong offensive presence. The fact that Naganadel is not dead weight after setting up Tailwind is incredibly valuable to take advantage of Tailwind’s full number of turns. Though not as strong in doubles as it is in singles, due to its frail defensive stats against two opponents and Tapu Fini’s common Misty Terrain weakening dragon-type attacks, this poison-type dragon can threaten many of the most common Pokemon in VGC 2018 with its poison attacks and coverage moves.

Naganadel has great offensive stats, so maximum special attack and speed is really the only way to use it. A Timid nature naturally outspeeds Mega Salamence, but Modest can be considered. Despite then being outsped by Pokemon like Kartana and Mega Metagross, a Modest nature can be preferable once you have Tailwind up, especially since Beast Boost will boost special attack instead of Speed. Naganadel’s defensive stats are nothing noteworthy, but the final four EVs in special defense can give opposing Download Porygon2 an attack boost instead of special attack. Due to its relatively frail defenses, Naganadel is typically best holding a Focus Sash to ensure it can survive any one hit. Beast Boost is the only available ability for Ultra Beasts, but can assist in a sweep by boosting either its special attack or speed.

Sludge Bomb is Naganadel’s best move in VGC 2018 due to the presence of the Tapus. Although Tapu Fini’s Misty Terrain severely hinders it, Draco Meteor is very strong otherwise and can threaten neutral damage on many opponents. Flamethrower is another option, however, to hit steel types like Kartana, Ferrothorn, and Celesteela for lots of damage. Tailwind is Naganadel’s primary support move, while Protect keeps Naganadel and its Focus Sash safe from Fake Out or double targets.

Other Options & Team Ideas

-Life Orb boosts your general damage output and can increase the odds on certain damage rolls, but you do have to worry about random Choice Scarfers (like Tapu Lele), especially in best of 1 games on Battle Spot.
-Z moves have seen some use to give Naganadel a knock out right away to gain a Beast Boost, but both Acid Downpour and Devastating Drake have their flaws. Poison is not the best offensive type, and Sludge Bomb already KOs most fairies it would typically target (except for Tapu Fini and bulky Tapu Lele), while Tapu Fini’s Misty Terrain can really limit when you can use Devastating Drake.
-Choice Scarf is not commonly seen, but can pick up surprise KOs on Tapu Koko, and you do not have to worry about opposing Tapu Lele also holding Choice Scarf.
-Hidden Power Ice has seen a lot of use for Landorus-T, and still threatens a lot of damage to Mega Salamence if you drop a dragon move. Hidden Power Ground allows Naganadel to actually do damage to Heatran, as it walls most of your other moves in doubles, but it requires a Life Orb to OHKO.
-Fire Blast can be used instead as your fire-type move to do more to Celesteela or other neutral targets. Heat Wave provides spread damage, but the lower spread damage is probably not worth it, Dragon Pulse is weaker than Draco Meteor, but will not lower your special attack drastically (and will still do more damage to Mega Salamence than HP Ice). Sludge Wave provides spread poison damage, but it will also hit your teammate, so it is rarely used.
-Thunderbolt can provide coverage against Gyarados.
-Nasty Plot can make Naganadel a huge offensive threat, but it will typically need support to pull it off effectively.
-Snarl further supports the team by lowering the opponents’ special attack. Helping Hand is tough to fit on a set but can also support a teammate by increasing their damage. Dragon Tail has very little use, but can be used to deny Trick Room from any non-fairies.

-Mid-speed sweepers will of course appreciate the Tailwind support. Some examples include Landorus-T, Mega Charizard Y, and Tapu Lele.
-Your own Choice Scarf users to eliminate opponents’ scarfers that threaten Naganadel can be a good teammate, such as Kartana to take out an opposing Tapu Lele.
-As is often said about VGC 2017 and 2018, terrain control can be very important. Eliminating Misty Terrain can ensure Naganadel’s dragon attacks will not be weakened. Psychic Terrain will keep this Ultra Beast safe from Fake Out and other priority, while Grassy Terrain will weaken Earthquake from Pokemon like Landorus-T.
-Your own Fake Out can assist with Tailwind setup, and Fake Out or some form of redirection helps offensive sets (especially with Nasty Plot) get going.
-Weather control should never be overlooked. Opposing rain or sand teams’ speed can threaten to outspeed Naganadel or match its Tailwind, and sand (and hail, though it is much less common) breaks Focus Sashes

Countering Naganadel

Bulky Attackers - Due to Naganadel having to either boost or use its Dragonium Z to break through bulky threats; Naganadel struggles to handle bulky attackers. Ho-Oh is the main in with its massive Special Defense and access to two forms of recovery but other notable ones are Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre.
Revenge killers/Priority - Without a way to boost speed outside of Beast Boost, Naganadel is easy to revenge kill. This makes threats like Yveltal, Deoxys, and Mewtwo things to consider when teambuilding and trying to plan how to approach the game. This also makes priority users a major threat, namely Arceus and Rayquaza.
Dusk Mane Necrozma - With its strong bulk and Psychic typing, Dusk Mane Necrozma can check Naganadel. However only defensive version can do this as DM Necrozma can't outpace Naganadel and has to be wary of a +2 Fire Blast.